Many parts of the Palestinian territories, according to humanitarian organizations, after six months of war are no longer habitable. People are trying to save their belongings under the rubble. Abla Farag Ala spent many hours in the ruins of her house in the Gaza Strip looking for some of her belongings. “I managed to find some photos and memorabilia that were not burned,” Palestine told the German News Agency. Her home in the Nuseirat refugee district was attacked two weeks ago and completely destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.

But apart from some souvenirs, some clothes and a cupboard the rest of the belongings were destroyed. “I don’t know why my house was bombed,” she says, since her house had nothing to do with military targets. But because she was afraid that something like this might happen, she had moved with her relatives to a nearby beach and they were living in a tent. When the Israeli army left their neighborhood after the operation, the family returned and were shocked at the extent of the destruction.

Reconstruction would take decades

After more than six months of war, large parts of the Gaza Strip are no longer recognizable. According to experts, a reconstruction could take decades. Due to the massive destruction, many people can no longer find their homes and large parts of the densely populated Gaza Strip are no longer habitable. Israel repeatedly emphasizes that it does not attack civilian targets but only those used by armed forces.

According to the Decentralized Damage Mapping Group, since the start of the war last October, more than half of the buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed. By the end of February, according to the UN Satellite Center, more than 31,000 buildings had been destroyed. In addition, 17,000 buildings were severely damaged and nearly 41,000 were slightly damaged. This corresponds to 35% of all buildings or 121,400 in total. According to the Israeli army its objectives are only military and not political. Hamas and other extremist organizations used residential buildings, clinics, schools and mosques for their purposes, according to the Israeli military. Israel estimates that the terrorist organization Hamas had accepted the destruction and many dead civilians with the aim of gaining international sympathy and at the same time criticizing Israel.

No hope for the future

“We have become homeless without a future,” Salah Qadi from the town of Khan Yunis told the German News Agency. “We cannot deal with this scale of destruction,” says the father of five. The city of Khan Younis is considered a stronghold of the Islamist Hamas.

Nothing remains of the two-story house where his family lived after the operations of the Israeli army. “They destroyed everything here. Our homes, our lives, our dreams,” says the 42-year-old with tears in his eyes.

Because of the widespread destruction and the thousands of civilian deaths, Israel is increasingly the target of criticism. The war in Gaza began on October 7 when Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. Israel responded with great severity and tens of thousands of people have lost their lives and the material damage is incalculable.

Edited by: Maria Rigoutsou